Indigenous mental health a human issue

Tuesday 21 Mar 2017

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic has supported the call by beyondblue to Close the Gap in
Indigenous mental health inequality.

"Mental health is a concern for all
Australians. However, the impact of mental health on Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander (ATSI) peoples is alarming, with suicide the leading cause of
death in 2015 among ATSI people aged
between five and 34 years," said Wiradjuri woman Dr Faye McMillan from the CSU School of Nursing, Midwifery and
Indigenous Health.

Dr McMillan is Director of the Djirruwang
Program at CSU which aims to educate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people to address mental health issues across Australia.

"We must simultaneously address issues that
impact the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people and their communities for any improvement in their
mental health outcomes," Dr McMillan said.

"We need services that are culturally appropriate
and responsive to the mental health concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples.

"We must start by listening to ATSI
people and the organisations that represent them.

"They have the experience and networks to
both understand the issues facing their communities and respond to issues that
are identified in our broader communities in a culturally appropriate and
responsive manner.

"These services will need financial and
policy support from all levels of government – local, state and federal – to
adequately resource the medical health care sector. The recent release of the Redfern Statement clearly states
that we have the solutions."

The Redfern Statement sets out a
blueprint to addressing disadvantage and inequality in Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander communities. It was first sent to Australian governments in
2016, and was recently presented to the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Dr McMillan also believes education has
an important role to play in helping reduce the suicide rate among young ATSI which
is currently double the national average.

"This will raise the skills of the ATSI
workforce while also improving their credibility with the wider Australian
community."

Mrs Robyn McMillan, a CSU graduate and
now an academic in the Djirruwang Program firmly believes that we must learn
from the past and ensure that we are not losing a generation of amazing young
people, the First Nations people of this country.

"We must decrease the suicide rates
amongst Aboriginal people and recognise the trans-generational trauma that
exits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.

"Importantly, these experiences are
different across Australia and our education system and guiding governmental
policies must also take this into account," Mrs McMillan said.

"The Close the Gap campaign reminds us
all that these statistics are heart breaking, but it is also changing the way
that people view these issues – they are not just a number.

"This number could be my nephew, niece, or
grandchild, that one could be my son or daughter.

"When you place this
into perspective, this shouldn't be an issue that has such an impact on
families and communities. This is not
just an Indigenous issue, this is a human issue."